Gowns and Uniforms
by zpplnchick
Summary: A brief interlude between Jess and Rory after her Debutante Ball brings a moment of shared chemistry and banter between the two.  Set during 2x06. Short one-shot.


Summary: A brief interlude between Jess and Rory after her Debutante Ball brings a moment of shared chemistry and banter between the two.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. Nor do I own any of the dialogue in the latter half of this story.

A/N: Set at the end of 2x06 – "Presenting Lorelai Gilmore" – I love this scene (it's absolutely hilarious) and thought a little Lit could be added. Enjoy!

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><p>Jess, so wrapped up within the text, only vaguely heard the sounds of fabric swishing on the cement and people talking – but at the sound of <em>her <em>voice, he looked up, snapping his book, _Utopia_, shut as he did so. She was wearing a giant, white poofy dress and he didn't think he'd ever seen anything so ridiculous. With a raised eyebrow and a slight upward tilt of his lips, he watched as Rory hugged a man he'd never seen before and then walked away, the snow-white fluffy fan swaying with her step.

He stood from the bench he'd been sitting on for the past two hours and walked towards the diner, a few steps behind her. An idea had been forming in his head for the past few hours and now seemed like a perfectly good time to execute it. He walked in just as she sat down after ordering, the bell dinging above his head, and stopped in the doorway, staring at her.

He watched as she paused just after setting the god-awful fan down on the table before slowly looking up at him, aware that she was the recipient of someone's stare. He fought back a smile as he quirked an eyebrow and let his eyes wander down her body, pausing at the white satin Mary Janes before looking back up to meet her eyes and catch her blush. She grinned and looked down for a second before boldly meeting his stare again. "What?" she asked with a laugh.

"Nothing," he countered, a smile working its way onto his face as he took in the sheer absurdity of her outfit. "Just didn't know it was Halloween, is all."

"Well, I do enjoy a good dressing up," she said lightly with a smile so sweet, he was pretty sure it'd be stuck in his head for days to come. "Which is more than I can say for you."

"Oh, you want me to join in the festivities then, is that it?" he asked, amused.

"Well, why not? Better than leaving me out here all alone."

_Perfect_, he thought as he took in her pretty blush and soft skin. "All right. If you insist." And with that, he closed the door and started towards the stairs, brushing aside the curtain before stopping short and turning around to face her again. "You look nice, by the way."

He took in the sight of her blush and shared a smile with her before dashing up the steps.

**_ooo_**

"Yes, I left behind a glass slipper and a business card in case the prince is _really_ dumb."

"Good and desperate thinking."

Jess shook his head; those two were so obvious it was painful. He swept aside the curtain and grabbed a rag to wipe down the counter.

"Thank you," Lorelai said. "Hmm, Luke."

"What?"

Jess focused on the counter, knowing Lorelai had just made his uncle aware of his presence, and forced his face to remain as neutral as possible.

"What do you think you're doing?" his uncle asked, gesturing towards his attire.

"Working," Jess said innocently, pausing in his wiping. He almost cracked a smile at the resigned look on his uncle's face.

"So you think this is funny, huh?"

"I'm sorry. I thought this was a uniform."

"Okay, you know what? That's fine," his uncle said, gesturing towards the table. "Have your little joke, you know. It doesn't bother me at all. You just go over there and clean off that table, okay? I'm ignoring you. You do not exist."

Jess nodded, itching to look towards the window and see if his gag was working on the girl with the pretty blush whom he hadn't been able to get out of his head for the past week. "Okay," he said agreeably before giving in to temptation and glancing up, pleased to see that she was watching.

He added the final touch by placing the pepper in its rightful spot, using Luke's signature hand motions as he did so and swallowed a laugh when he could practically hear his uncle crack.

"That's it! Get upstairs and change."

"Whatever you say, Uncle Luke," he said casually, catching her eye and giving her a brief smile before turning back towards the stairs once more.

"It's Luke. Just Luke. Mister Luke. In fact, don't address me at all!" his uncle shouted at him as he ran up the stairs to change out of these ridiculous clothes, the memory of her smile leaving him with an ear splitting grin. Mission accomplished… for today.

He began to wonder what else he could come up with to catch her attention and an idea came to mind…

He'll need chalk. White chalk. And some yellow police tape.

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><p>AN2: This was fun to write. Please review! They keep me inspired.


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